Even the small fry are big. In Poul Anderson's "The Sensitive Man" -
Thomas Bancroft:
runs a famous law firm;
had been in Congress and the Cabinet;
remains a respected elder statesman;
has friends in many high places.
Bertrand Mead:
is a company executive;
is the power behind Bancroft and other political figures;
leads the Actionist movement;
has a private army;
owns a small Pacific island.
Impressive villains for a single novella. We will not meet them again because the Chronology informs us that the following installment is set decades later and we might already know that it is also set on another planet.
Heinlein's Future History presents indentured servitude on a damp but habitable Venus whereas Anderson's Psychotechnic History presents state dictatorship on an uninhabitable desert Venus. Contrasts and comparisons enhance enjoyment.
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I thought of Michael Bloomberg as being analogous to Bernard Meade, except for the former making an ignominiously failed attempt at entering politics actively.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
The unsuccessful candidates are the great unsung heroes of the democratic systems. Without them, there could be no successful candidates.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I never thought of the "they also ran" failures like that, but I see your point!
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
A Swedish boxer, Paulo Roberto, appeared as a character, without his prior knowledge, in a Stieg Larsson novel, then played himself in the film! When I read that he had also been an (unsuccessful) Social Democratic electoral candidate, I was even more impressed!
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
And I was thinking of how Winston Churchill himself became very nearly an "also ran" failure. The Gallipoli disaster and the unpopular stands he took in the '20's and '30's might have prevented him from ever becoming Prime Minister. We get a glimpse of Churchill in his "wilderness" years in Anderson's "Losers' Night."
Ad astra! Sean
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